RANGERS owner Craig Whyte last night rounded on his critics to defend the financing of his take-over deal and the clubs' transfer policy.

Wounded by accusations that he had used supporters cash to fund his Ibrox buy-out and had not paid a current £5m tax bill Whyte described the reports as " categorically untrue "

And launching a broadside at sniping former Board members for taking no action while the club was on the brink of financial collapse and hitting out at the Daily Record for " distorting " the facts he assured fans that everything he was doing - including the sale of striker Nikica Jelavic to Everton -- was in the best interests of Rangers.

In a statement Whyte insisted he wanted to " set the record straight " on the issues and explain why the clubs' top scorer was allowed to leave on deadline day without little time for a quality replacement to be sourced.

"The reality of Jelavic's departure is two-fold. One, the player wanted to leave and there is no point in trying to keep a player who no longer wants to be at Ibrox.

In the summer transfer window last year we conducted 14 different pieces of transfer business, more than any other club in Scotland.

Craig Whyte

" Two, the Club is simply not in a financial position to turn down offers for players which give the Club a good return on its original investment.

" Investment in the playing squad has been a thorny issue since I took over the Club in May and is the source of endless debate, much of it ill-informed. I want to set the record straight.

" In the summer transfer window last year we conducted 14 different pieces of transfer business, more than any other club in Scotland. This included new signings and improvement to existing contracts with key players, increasing the players' wage bill significantly. We now have a first team squad of 30 which includes 18 full internationalists.

" Admittedly, there were transfer targets we did not secure but that is not uncommon. As chairman, I have supported Ally McCoist in his choice of targets and will continue to do so. The timing of Jelavic's departure so late in this window is far from ideal and efforts to improve the squad will continue until the transfer window closes."